"This has to be a joke... What is this, some kind of magic rock? Secret research, my foot~."

Kim Jae-yeol, a principal researcher at the group's affiliate TS Q-Cell, was in a bad mood over the sudden test.

The company had marked the field as its next-generation moneymaker and poured research funding into it.

Kim Jae-yeol had a standout research record in ESS (Energy Storage Systems).

He'd earned his PhD at Caltech and joined the company with a sizable signing bonus.

The company had high hopes for him.

But his research results weren't as good as expected.

Next to Ojeong or the Elja Group, the Ana Group was a newcomer.

Its stockpile of research data was thin.

He'd barely been keeping the research project going on what he knew and who he knew.

Then the group itself had been shaken.

Luckily, it had become the TS Group, and the business carried on.

The energy storage system was the very heart of Q-Cell's renewable energy push—solar, wind and the rest.

"I'm already swamped with lithium battery research... Argh! I should just quit this job or something!"

Swallowing his anger, Kim Jae-yeol set a smooth, milky-white chunk of stone in the test rig.

"What's so special about a rock like this..."

It had been ruled S-grade research.

The kind that needed sign-off from a company president or higher, and a signed confidentiality pledge.

He'd given up his Sunday and gone into emergency testing.

"What are you, anyway... Let's wrap this up fast so I can go home and get a game in."

The test orders handed down were simple.

Check how much electricity the milky-white mineral could store.

"Well, no risk of explosion, it looks like~."

Vrrrrrrrrr.

The electromagnetic test confirmed it had almost no magnetism.

Since the test was secret, he ran the rig alone, with no other researchers around.

"Next, let's take a look at the power absorption rate~."

The tests were mostly simple ones.

Power storage capacity, heat and strength—that was all.

The lab spared no expense, so it was fully equipped right down to the safety gear.

He…